Despite vocal opposition from the Coalition and a new women’s group, Labor bill looks set to pass parliament
The Victorian parliament is gearing up for a debate over the rights of transgender and non-binary people to be able to choose the gender listed on their birth certificates.
Under current law in Victoria, in order for transgender people to have their birth certificate changed to affirm their gender, they have to have undergone sex affirming surgery, often at great cost. It is something many transgender people do not wish to undertake, it is not covered by Medicare, and often the surgery is not available in Australia.
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Guardian World News
NSW abortion bill passes first hurdle
Bill passes lower house of New South Wales parliament after lengthy debate
An NSW bill to decriminalise abortion has passed its first hurdle after a lengthy and passionate debate in the lower house.
However, proponents of the Reproductive Health Care Reform Bill 2019 face further hurdles as it now goes to the upper house for consideration.
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Josh Frydenberg faces citizenship challenge by constituent – politics live
Michael Staindl launches section 44(1) case against the deputy Liberal leader and treasurer in the court of disputed returns. All the day’s events, live
Chris Bowen to Greg Hunt:
Why did the Minister yesterday claimed that the granting of an MRI Medicare license to sound radiology was in unquote quote not under an independent process.” When in fact, they were signed off by him in his ministerial office.
Bob Katter appeared to just blurt a bunch of words out at the microphone, or maybe I just had a stroke. I don’t smell toast, but I just can’t tell. All I know is that I can make no sense of those words.
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Government refers Crown allegations to integrity commission – politics live
Attorney general responds to crossbench calls for inquiry. All the day’s events, live
If Christian Porter is writing these dixers, it is just indicative of how busy he is, because OMG it might just be easier to put a microphone on the prime minister when he delivers his joint party room rah rah, then put up with this.
Put it in a press release. Let backbenchers ask questions that actually matter to their communities.
Chris Bowen to Greg Hunt:
Can the minister confirm that sound radiology the Adelaide is situated within 5km of 9 other MRI machines with existing MRI Medicare licences?
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Trump renews attack on Baltimore congressman Elijah Cummings – live
- Trump on Twitter goes after Cummings and Al Sharpton
- Director of national intelligence Dan Coats to leave post
- Sign up for the US briefing and get a new perspective
Trump’s comments this morning to 9/11 first responders that he “spent a lot time” at Ground Zero are raising serious doubts.
A New York Times reporter who spent years covering the fallout of the attacks for the New York Post tweeted this:
So, I covered rebuilding at the WTC for three years after covering the immediate aftermath of the attacks for NYPost. Giuliani was a frequent presence w families, as was Pataki. I recall one instance where Trump was at the site. https://t.co/7Ish98CX1g
Trump’s reference to ‘7/11’ was a slip of the lip. News accounts from days just after 9/11 include references to Trump giving high-fives to police officers and volunteers on their way to the World Trade Center site. ‘I have a lot of men working down here. I want to make sure they’re OK,’ he said. Trump said his employers were cleaning and digging out, but declined to say where they were working.
Joe Biden’s campaign has released its own blistering criticism of Kamala Harris’ health care plan.
A statement from Biden’s campaign accuses the California senator of having “released a health care plan that both backtracks on her long-promised – but then-hedged – support of Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All legislation while at the same time committing to still unraveling the hard-won Affordable Care Act that the Trump Administration is trying to undo right now.”
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Trump defends ‘excellent’ labor secretary amid scrutiny over Epstein plea deal – live
Donald Trump ignores calls for Alexander Acosta to resign over role in securing a lenient 2008 plea deal for financier Jeffrey Epstein
It’s been quite a heavy day, so here’s a small dose of fun:
Public Policy Polling, a Democratic polling firm, tested how Donald Trump would fare against US soccer star Megan Rapinoe in a 2020 matchup.
Barack Obama’s healthcare law is once again in jeopardy, as a federal appeals court on Tuesday hears arguments on its validity.
The case, which could once again place the fate of the Affordable Care Act before the supreme court, was brought by a group of Republican governors and attorneys general.
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California to offer healthcare to young working poor living illegally in US
State will become first to give Medicaid access to illegal residents, in defiance of Trump policies
California will become the first state in the US to pay for some adults living in the country illegally to have full health benefits as the solidly liberal state continues to distance itself from President Donald Trump’s administration.
Democrats in the state legislature reached an agreement on Sunday afternoon as part of a broader plan to spend $213bn of state and federal tax money over the next year. The agreement means low-income adults between the ages of 19 and 25 living in California illegally would be eligible for California’s Medicaid program, the joint state and federal health insurance program for the poor and disabled.
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Former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke dies aged 89 – rolling coverage
Hawke, the longest serving Labor prime minister who remained a popular public figure, has passed away
Bob Hawke, Australia’s longest serving Labor prime minister and widely seen as a popular ‘larrikin’ figure even into his old age, has passed away.
Hawke led the Labor party to victory in four consecutive elections from 1983, leading a transformative period in Australia during which the government established Medicare, Landcare, and superannuation schemes, deregulated the financial industry and floated the Australian dollar. He set up the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, and investigated but never managed a treaty with Indigenous Australia.
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Federal election 2019: Tony Abbott labels Labor’s climate policy ‘socialism’ – politics live
Former PM burnishes his conservationist credentials – but says opposition measures risk damaging the economy. Follow all the updates, live
Tanya Plibersek came in at the end of Labor’s press conference, after there were no questions on Jessica Whelan, the candidate Scott Morrison was referring to there, when he was talking about posts being referred to the AFP (she claims they are fake)
Plibersek:
Hunt and King have closed the press club debate on health, with Hunt finishing where he started, on medicine affordability.
Medicines can only be made affordable and health services expanded when the economy is strong, he says. Meanwhile, King closes by reiterating Labor’s $7.5bn package to improve hospitals and cancer care, and by saying Labor will stop cuts to Medicare.
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Shorten pledges billions for seniors’ dental bills, childcare and educators’ wage rise
Labor leader vows to ‘build Medicare’ as Scott Morrison announces plan to freeze refugee intake
Bill Shorten has unveiled three big-spending policies to invest $2.4bn in seniors’ dental care, $4bn to provide cheaper childcare for families and to boost early childhood educators’ pay by 20%.
Shorten made the promises that Labor will “build Medicare” and expand social services to win the 2019 election on a positive platform of “hope over fear, vision over cynicism” at a quasi campaign launch at the Box Hill Town Hall in Melbourne on Sunday.
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